Hands-on with the Lenovo K900

The Lenovo booth at the Consumer Electronics Show 2013 is not inside one of the halls but in a marquee on the Las Vegas Convention Center's central plaza. It's also only open for press briefings which means I am one of the relatively few people who actually got their hands on Lenovo's new superphone, the K900.

At this point it is still in pre-production status and according to Lenovo will be released "sometime this year" in China where Lenovo is currently the second largest smartphone manufacturer. Three months ago the international expansion of Lenovo's cell phone business started in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Russia, but we'll have to see if and when the K900 will make it to Western European or U.S. shores.

While the Sony, Huawei and ZTE flagship phones launched at CES all offer very similar specs -- 5-inch 1080p screen and Qualcomm 1.5 GHz processors -- the Lenovo slightly diverts form this formula. At 5.5-inches the screen is slightly larger (albeit still 1080p) but more interestingly, the central processor comes from Intel, a chip maker not necessarily well-known for its mobile efforts. That said, the Intel Atom Z2580 2.0 GHz processor should make the K900 one of the fastest devices in the market when it's eventually launched. Like previous Lenovo models, the new device is running Android but it's not clear which version will be installed on the final product.

The back plate is stainless steel with polycarbonate top and bottom.

On the back you'll find a 13MP camera with Sony's Exmor RS sensor and a double-LED flash.

At 6.9mm the K900 is very thin. As with most Android phones you'll find the volume rocker on the left ...

... and the power button on the right side of the device.

The 13MP camera is on par with the rest of the top-end specifications. Images are captured on Sony's Exmor RS sensor (same as in the Xperia Z) which in combination with the fast F1.8 lens should make the Lenovo device one of the best smartphones for low-light capture. When it gets too dark, the double-LED flash should help lighten things up. The front camera offers an extra-wide viewing angle of 88 degrees (22.4mm in 35mm terms) to facilitate better group self-portraits.

The exterior materials and design match the high-end components under the hood. The phone is beautifully made, with Corning Gorilla glass 2 on the front and a mix of brushed stainless steel and polycarbonate (for maximium antenna reception) on the back. While at 162g it's fairly lightweight and at 6.9mm very thin, it's a little large for a jeans pocket. It'll fit nicely into the inside pocket of your jacket though. As mentioned above, we were looking at a pre-production unit but judging by the specification and the build quality and design, this could be one of the most interesting smartphone launches of 2013 and we're definitely looking forward to getting our hands on the finalized product.

Comments

At 5.5 inches diagonally, the K900 dwarfs even the Galaxy Note 2, and like other devices in this half phone space, half tablet it's easy to see how this might not be ideal for every smartphone buyer. But the overall design is attractive enough, with a metallic chassis and squared-off edges. On the front is a 1080p display, which looks about as sharp and clear as you'd expect. On the inside, Intel's Clovertrail+ -- a dual-core, HyperThreaded CPU -- provides enough horsepower to keep things running smoothly, and around the back is a 13MP Sony Exmor R camera with f/1.8 aperture. On the hardware side, we came away pretty impressed.

Another hi-spec phone, with what, theoretically at least, should be a very good camera, can only be good for the customer - pushing prices down. At < 23mm the camera should be very good for architectural interiors, which suits me. IMO, we are still searching for the optimum screen size for a phone that supports comfortable surfing and messaging, while still being pocketable, For my, admittedly older, eyes 3" to 4" doesn't quite cut it. So, look forward to checking out the new emerging 5" and plus smart phones.

Title should read: Compact cams are the walking dead, whole industry in panic.

Phones like the Nokias, Lenovos, Galaxies are death to compact cameras. Similar pic quality, faster processing, faster pictaking much better screen and much more versatile with browser, full support of skydrive, facebook etc.

Unless it has full 35mm chips, quick af and instant click, near medium format resolution and big glass to match - picquality will be too close to phone cams.

No it won't. Phones have digital zooms, no real flash. No current cell Phone will actually match a current p+s digital. BUT, convenience far outweighs quality. It's better to have a fair image than none at all.

I place my 5.3" phone in my pocket every day (Samsung Galaxy Note I), so the folks that think this is too big are typically iPhone owners with tiny 4.0 and 3.5" displays. Having used a 5.3" phone I will never regress and go back to anything smaller. The only decent images come at the widest angle, so it's OK for landscape photography but not people photography.

f1.8 is even better than the f2.0 on the Lumia 920(but no OIS here)Of course it matters! It always does!What you mean is that these phone shooters are no match for a real camera - no matter the specthen you're rightBUTwith *these* cameras Every tiny bit helps.Agreed?

Its funny to read the douchtards that mock new phones, same types that yrs ago mocked auto focus and later digital so lets punt thier dinosaur asses as valid ... Lets face facts, like it or not The camera phone is changing the way we think & see and maybe even present images as well as change the of idea of photography & this is the beginning of the end of the point and shoot camera ...all I care about how good r the images and how big can I make em !

This isn't the first, but almost every other attempt has sunk without trace and been swept under the carpet. Currently the number of selling Intel based phone models can be numbered on the thumbs of one hand (Razr Max), whereas ARM phone models are "just about everything else on the planet".

I carry my 7" Android tablet (a Huawei Mediapad) in my jeans pocket WITH an additional soft protective casing on! Every day, no issue... fits both front and back pockets. So this is really slim size... sounds just about perfect (holding to 7" tablet to the ear still feels somewhat bulky, so I resort to headset during calls)

these phones browse the REAL web. using pinch, you often want to size the web page so it's just barely displayed in landscape mode. A larger (taller) screen is a very useful reading aid, especially if you are older and either cannot focus at 6" any more or need more light for your eyes, or both.

We need a dislike button. I couldn't care less about all the latest dumb phones! When I go to the booth, or shop for plans, I'll look up what phones the carrier is offering, choose the one that meets my features and price preferences, and that's it. We don't need dumb phone clutter on the wall of a photography site.

this is connect.dpreview.com which has specifically been set up to cover mobile devices. Occasionally we will cross-post an article to dpreview.com. If you're not interested in these articles I'd recommend you simply ignore them.

Lars, would it not be possible to offer the option to the dpreview user to filter news content so it didn't include anything from the connect site? It's OK saying ignore connect cross posts but the fact they are there on DPR just pushes news more relevant to DPR users off the screen quicker. I think you need to realise Connect content is tantamount to spam for many on DPR and no one tells anyone to just ignore spam do they?

OK guys, I guess I was just confused. I thought connect.DPreview.com was ALSO about DIGITIAL PHOTOGRAPHY - I mean, it's in the name/URL an all... So this is only about phones and tablets then? Never about serious cameras or serious photography? Just consumer electronics gadgets? Alright then, in that case, yes, I'll filter it out! For sure! It just wasn't presented in that manner - when it started it seemed this was some sort of photography social network or something of the sort. So, now that I've "connected" with "connect", how does one "disconnect" from it? (and I don't mean the filter button on dpr)

LOL!!....its a 2ghz dual core atom processor....its the most powerful processor to be in a phone!! Its essentially a PC CPU(a small one....but a pc). The snapdragon, Exynos, tegra....ect.....no where near pc performance.

I have designer-ish jeans that fits pretty snug with average sized pockets. The Note 2 still fits., doesn't stick out of my pockets. "Really baggy pants Lars?" Are you sure you weren't holding this iPad mini? To be fair, the Note 2 won't fit in pockets that don't let you insert more than just your fingers. Is that an accurate description of your jeans? I would think those jeans are the problem because they are abnormal.

well, let me clarify: the Note II does fit into my pocket but it doesn't feel comfortable. A typical 4.7inch device like a Nexus 4 or Galaxy S3 is pretty much the biggest I'd want to carry that way but I am aware that might vary from person to person.

Never have a problem carrying my Note2 in my jeans and no they arent "baggy". Maybe you are wearing skinny jeans? If so then thats a problem in more ways than one.After having a phone this size I NEVER want to go back to anything smaller.